


The Other Parallel

by gonattsaga



Series: Nearly [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Parallel Realities, Parallel Universes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-13
Updated: 2018-03-07
Packaged: 2019-03-17 22:56:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13669047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gonattsaga/pseuds/gonattsaga
Summary: THE OTHER PARALLELSequel to NEARLYCompanion fic to PARALLEL---(This fic is about Canon!Harry in the ”Nearly” Universe)WHAT'S HAPPENED SO FAR:Draco:While Harry fought the Death Eater and then threw himself through the ”Bridge” (the doorway between the Time Room and the Space Room), Lucius grabbed Draco and Disapparated to get him (and himself) out of harms way, before Voldemort showed up.Canon!Harry:Has just lost Sirius, been possessed by Voldemort and sent back to Hogwarts with a Portkey and a promise from Dumbledore that he’ll join him in half an hour, he travels through time and space……and ends up back inside the Department of Mysteries instead of Dumbledore’s office.





	1. The Afterlife (Friday)

**Author's Note:**

> Confused and dizzy, Harry staggers to his feet and looks around. He recognises the room immediately. It’s the Time Room. But the silently wailing Death Eater with a baby’s head is nowhere to be seen, nor is any of Harry’s friends or the Order, or the anyone from the Ministry. 

 

He tries to remember how to get to the room with the archway, concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other and swallowing compulsively past the big, painful lump in his throat as the memory of Sirius falling through the veil keeps flashing before his mind’s eye … finally he finds the room, but it’s empty. He feels the same impulse pull him towards the archway and as he gets closer to it he can hear the whispers from beyond the veil … _does one of the voices belong to Sirius now?_ he thinks faintly, as the archway blurs in front of him. 

 

He can hear the creaking of a door opening behind him and turns around as if in a daze. If Lucius Malfoy, or even Voldemort himself, has come back to finish him off, he doesn’t think he has the energy to fight them anymore … or the motivation … after all, what does it matter now?

 

” _Harry!_ ” 

 

He blinks the tears from his eyes and frowns as Sirius worried face comes into focus in front of him, just before a hand lands heavily on top of his shoulder. 

 

”Harry, what the Hell do you think you’re playing at—?”

 

Harry just shakes his head, frowning in confusion … but then it strikes him … _I must have died after all_. 

 

”Oh, Sirius…” he whispers and tips forward, throwing his arms around the man’s neck and burrowing into his chest. 

 

”Harry?” the man says uncertainly, returning the embrace briefly. 

 

”I’m so sorry!” Harry whimpers with a sniffle. ”It’s all my fault! I’m so, _so sorry!_ ”

 

”Harry … Shhh … it’s okay … look at me”, the man says softly, gently prying Harry’s arms down from around his neck and peering into his face. ”You’re okay, it’s okay … but we have to get you out of here… you can tell me what happened when we get home, okay?”

 

”Home?” Harry mumbles in confusion. 

 

”Yes, home. Now come on … your daddy is worried sick about you—”

 

” _Daddy?_ ” Harry repeats incredulously, before a thought hits him; if this is the after life, then of course his parents are here as well, and for the first time, Harry feels a jolt of excitement. ”My parents are here?”

 

”What?” Sirius says with a frown. ”Are you sure you’re all right, Harry? Did you bump your head or something?”

 

”I … I don’t think so, but … would that matter? Now?”

 

Sirius’s confusion morphs into mild alarm, but he seems to collect himself and shakes his head. He straightens up and clamps a hand over the back of Harry’s neck and starts to steer him towards one of the doorways. Harry remembers running after Bellatrix Lestrange … her voice echoing tauntingly around him as he ran — _I killed Sirius Black, haa haa haa, I killed Sirius Black —_ He curls his arm around Sirius waist, just to remind himself that the man is here next to him; dead or not, at least they’re in the same place, so it doesn’t really matter …

 

As they reach the large Entrance Hall of the Ministry, Harry is stunned to see the debris from Dumbledore’s and Voldemort’s duel has been completely cleared away and the large fountain has been repaired, yet there is no-one around. The whole hall is completely deserted. Sirius pulls him roughly towards one of the fireplaces and he nearly trips over his own feet as he stumbles after the older man.

 

Sirius fingers dig painfully into his neck and before he knows what’s happening, Harry is being propelled into the grate and green flames flare up all around him; everything starts spinning really fast and Harry squeezes his eyes shut, stumbling blindly out of the fireplace on the other side a moment later and slamming into a warm body … before he’s even opened his eyes again, strong arms have locked around him in a vice-like grip and for a second Harry is seized by a sense of panic — 

 

But then a subtle scent hits him and even though he can’t put his finger on where he’s smelled it before, it feels familiar and safe, like coming back to Hogwarts after a summer at the Dursley’s … 

 

The fireplace roars to life again and Sirius steps out of the grate next to Harry and the mysterious hugger. He looks down at Harry with a stern frown that almost immediately smooths out and with a sigh, he reaches out to comb his fingers through Harry’s hair. It feels weird, but nice. And Harry smiles up at him. 

 

”Okay”, Sirius says seriously. ”I’m going to put the kettle on and then you have some explaining to do, young man …”

 

”Chocolate for me”, a strangled, but distinctly familiar man’s voice mumbles above Harry’s head and he frowns, _I’m sure I know that voice…_

 

”Sure”, Sirius says. ”Harry?”

 

”Wh-what?” Harry mumbles. 

 

”Chocolate or coffee?”

 

”Ehm, chocolate, I guess…”

 

”Oh, cub … You _have_ had a fright, then …” 

 

_What the… Professor Lupin?_

 

Harry pushes himself away from the chest in front of him and stares up at the man in shock. The familiar and slightly scarred face of Remus Lupin peers back down at him with a sympathetic smile and misty eyes. Harry feels a sharp stab of guilt … _not Lupin too!_ he thinks desperately. _Another Order member dead — for nothing — and it’s all my fault!_

 

The smile on Lupin’s face falls away and he frowns with worry instead. 

 

”What happened, Harry?”

 

”I … I …” he trails off uncertainly and just shakes his head. 

 

”Come on, let’s go sit down …” the man says gently and steers him towards a plump-cushioned sofa. 

 

Sirius comes back carrying two steaming mugs of hot chocolate and hands one each to Harry and Remus just as soon as they’ve sunk down on the sofa together. Harry awkwardly shifts a little to the side, when his former DADA professor settles down a little too close to him, pressing his thigh flush against Harry’s own, which he’s sure is innocent enough, but he’s really not used to this type of physical proximity, especially from a teacher and he’s not sure what to make of it … Remus is watching him closely, but doesn’t comment when he squirms away enough to allow at least an inch of space between them. 

 

”Why don’t you start from the beginning?” 

 

”The b-beginning?” Harry repeats. ”You mean … wh-what … what _do_ you mean?”

 

”All we know is that you broke into Professor Umbridge office and used her fireplace …” Remus says and although his lips curl into a disapproving frown, his eyes remain soft with worry. 

 

”Yeah”, Harry nods. ”All the others were watched and Hermione insisted we make sure Sirius wasn’t in Grimmauld Place before we went to London—”

 

”Wait, _what_ …?”

 

”Grimmauld Place?” Sirius says as he joins them again, carrying another steaming mug. ”How’d you know we’d gone there?”

 

”Don’t … don’t you remember?” Harry asks carefully. 

 

Studying the man’s face intently, he notices for the first time that his godfather looks a lot better than the last time he saw him, younger even … his eyes aren’t sunken in shadows nor haunted, his shoulders aren’t as tense … _maybe it’s right what they say,_ he thinks. _Maybe we do go to a better place …_

 

He turns back to Lupin and looks more closely at his face too, noticing similar changes there. Although the man looks far from well, his hair doesn’t have nearly as many grey hairs and the lines around his eyes and mouth are barely noticible. 

 

”You broke into a Professor’s office to use her floo so that you could … contact Sirius?” Remus asks. 

 

”Yeah. Because of the vision, and Hermione—”

 

Both men exchange an alarmed look. 

 

”What vision, Harry?” Remus says. 

 

”I had a vision of Sirius being captured by Voldemort. They were in the Department of Mysteries. In a room I’ve been dreaming about all year. He was torturing him … you”, he adds, turning to Sirius and swallowing thickly. ”He said he was going to kill you.”

 

Sirius nods slowly, his eyes flickering over to Remus but quickly fixes on Harry again and he gives him an encouraging look, silently asking him to continue … Harry is hesitant though. If Sirius doesn’t remember what killed him — and that is was essentially Harry’s fault — what would be the point of reminding him? 

 

 _You just don’t want him to blame you,_ a vicious voice whispers in the back of his mind. 

 

 _So what,_ he mutters back. 

 

”So you decided to go to the Department of Mysteries”, Remus says with an air of exasperation. ”Harry … How many times …”

 

”I’m sorry”, Harry says quickly. 

 

”Well, it’s not good enough!” Remus snaps. ”I’m sorry, but this keeps happening! You’re sorry and you promise not to do it again, and then a year later, it’s the same thing all over again! It’s like clockwork with you!”

 

”I know, I’m sorry …” Harry mumbles. ”But I couldn’t just let him —” 

 

 _Die_ , he doesn’t say. Because, that’s exactly what he did. If he’d just listened to Hermione, if he’d just for once ignored his _saving-people-thing_ , then none of this would have happened; he would still be alive, at Hogwarts, and Sirius and Remus would both be alive as well. 

 

”Why didn’t you go to Professor Snape?” Sirius asks. 

 

”I … I forgot”, Harry mumbles. ”By the time I remembered, Umbridge had already caught us …”

 

”Caught you?” Remus says. ”What do you mean?”

 

”She caught us using her fireplace”, Harry clarifies. ”But we got away, thanks to Hermione—”

 

”That’s the second time you’ve mentioned Miss Granger”, Remus says. ”Do you mean to tell me she went with you to the Department of Mysteries?”

 

”Well, yeah …” Harry says. 

 

”Well, where is she now? What happened in the Department of Mysteries?”

 

”I … I don’t know … It was all a trap, like she said. We got there and there were Death Eaters everywhere, we … we fought them and ran … but they overpowered us, and that’s when you showed up …”

 

”You mean me?” Sirius says, frowning. ”I didn’t see any Death Eaters, Harry.”

 

”I mean, yeah you, and you”, Harry says turning back to Remus. ”All of you. The Order.”

 

”Harry, I’ve been here ever since we got back from the meeting at Grimmauld Place.”

 

”But … but the fight, the duel … the Order …”

 

”We were with the Order at Grimmauld Place for our weekly meeting, that’s true”, Remus says slowly. ”Then we came home to find two owls waiting for us. One was from Hogwarts informing us that you’d been caught breaking into a teacher’s office and illegally used the fireplace to floo from the school grounds and the other …”

 

”Yes?” Harry says breathlessly, his mind reeling with all this new, or rather alternative information. 

 

”Was from Draco …”

 

”Draco?” Harry repeats, astonished. 

 

”Yes …”

 

”I … I don’t … I don’t understand.”

 

”Here, you can read it yourself”, Remus says and hands him a rumpled piece of parchment. 

 

Harry takes it and glances at the short message: _”Harry is in danger. In the Department of Mysteries”_

 

It’s clearly been scrawled in a hurry, if he remembers the blonde Slytherin’s usually immaculate handwriting correctly. And at the bottom right-hand corner is a perfectly round, barely visible stain … _Tear stain? But why would Malfoy be crying when he wrote this?_

 

”Your dad went there to look for you immediately—”

 

”My dad?”

 

”Yes. But I stayed home, in case you’d come back.”

 

”But that doesn’t make any sense …” Harry mumbles. 

 

Something is off about this whole thing. Lupin and Sirius keep mentioning his dad, but there is no sign of either James or Lily in this place and this last time, Harry got the distinct impression that Remus was talking about _Sirius_ when he said _”Your dad”_ … looking around, _really_ looking around for the first time, Harry takes in the homey atmosphere in the room and notices framed photographs lined up on the mantlepiece and a few larger portraits hanging on the walls. The portraits are old and unfamiliar, but look like something that would hang on the walls of Hogwarts. The photographs are too far away for Harry to really make out who’s in them, but one of them is so familiar to him that he would know it anywhere; the spinning movement, the smiling faces … it’s James and Lily dancing, he’s sure of it. 

 

Leaning forward to place the mug of cooling chocolate on the small coffee table, Harry slowly gets to his feet and approaches the fireplace … he was right. It is the photograph of his parents dancing, _his_ photograph of his parents, in fact his _only_ photograph of his parents unless you count the picture of the Order of the Phoenix that Mad-Eye Moody gave him that one time … this photograph of James and Lily had been taken earlier than that, after Hogwarts but before Harry was born. Sirius had given it to him the first night they met, before they had to say good-bye again. Harry had bought a frame for it in Hogsmeade the first chance he got in fourth year, but it wasn’t _this_ frame … 

 

Frowning, Harry lets his gaze wander over to the other photographs, his heart thudding steadily but harder and harder in his chest as each set of smiling faces register: Sirius and Remus standing side by side with their arms slung around each other’s shoulders, Harry as a toddler riding a small broomstick an inch off the ground and Sirius running after him, Sirius and Remus again but slightly older and with Harry himself wedged in-between them … Harry leans in to study the smiling face of himself in the photograph and tries to determine his age … _Five? Six?_ Definitely before Hogwarts, and definitely after Voldemort killed his parents, because the lightening bolt scar is clearly visible on his forehead … 

 

So if Harry is around six years old in this photograph, how come it exists at all, when he’s meant to be living with the Dursleys and still completely oblivious to anything to do with Magic? 

 

”Harry … What’s wrong?” Remus worried voice trickles over from the sofa and manages to seep in through the hum of frantic thoughts in Harry’s head. ”Harry, please talk to us …”

 

Harry swallows and forces the frantic thoughts to the back of his head as a dawning realisation comes over him … This place, this house, that Lupin and Sirius call their home, _what if_ … _what if it isn’t the after life? What if it’s something else?_

 

Turning around, Harry stares between the worried faces of Remus Lupin and Sirius Black and slowly the pieces come together … _They’re a couple and I’m … what am I to them? A Godson? No …_ His mind flashes back to the photograph on the mantlepiece behind him. _That’s a family portrait. So … What, we’re a family?_ Harry thinks incredulously, but even as he stomps down on the impulse to scoff, the very idea of it fills him a warmth he hasn’t really felt since … _Since when?_ Since he hugged Sirius that first day last summer? Since Sirius sent him the Firebolt in third year? Since he conjured a Patronus for the first time by the lake? 

 

Or is it even longer back than that, maybe when he first discovered the Mirror of Erised and saw his parents for the first time?

 

And now … now, he’s faced with the possibility, the _opportunity_ , to have that again. _A family._

 

Is he meant to turn that down? Just for the sake of the truth? 

 

 _And what is the truth, anyway?_ he thinks wildly. 

 

Whatever this place is, another world or heaven — or hell, even — it clearly has its’ own truths, and who is Harry to decide which truth is the right one? If everyone’s happy, what’s the harm in going along with something, even if it’s not what you’re used to?

 

 _Don’t I deserved to be happy for once?_ he thinks. 

 

”Harry? _Please,_ you’re scaring us —!”

 

”I’m sorry”, he hears himself say, as if from afar. ”I feel a little dizzy, and confused … I think … Yeah, I _did_ hit my head as I fell down in the Department of Mysteries …”

 

”You hit your head?” Remus frowns. 

 

”Yeah. No. I fell down and — and something hit _me_ … in the head. It fell down from a — a shelf-thing — ehm — knocked me out for a second.”

 

”Harry”, Sirius says, sounding practically scandalised. ”Do you know what kind of things we have in my Department? You could have seriously hurt yourself! Why didn’t you tell me this before?”

 

”I … I was confused”, Harry says again and shrugs. 

 

Remus turns to Sirius with a sharp look. 

 

”Calm down, Moony …” the other man says immediately. 

 

”Do we take him to St. Mungos?” Remus asks, calmly enough, but there’s definitely a wild look in his eyes that tells Harry that underneath his collected facade, he’s panicking. 

 

”Let’s just take him back to Hogwarts and let Poppy do some tests …”

 

”Sirius”, Remus says sharply. ”Don’t worry about keeping me calm, just tell me honestly, do you think he should go to St. Mungos—?”

 

” _No_ ”, Sirius says. ”If I thought so, I would tell you! Let’s just take him to the Hospital Wing … Harry, are you all right to Apparate, do you think?”

 

”Ehm, I don’t really know how … I haven’t got my license yet and—”

 

”No, no, I know _that_ ”, Sirius interrupts. ”I’ll Side-Along you — Merlin, you really _are_ confused — Come on, let’s go! If Madam Pomfrey says we need to take you to St. Mungos after all, we want to get there before it gets dark …”

 


	2. Dungeon Drama (Friday Night)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remus and Sirius takes Harry back to Hogwarts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is a little short.

Remus sends Hedwig up to the school with a note and then he grabs his wand from inside his robes and beckons Harry over. A quick look over at Sirius tells Harry that the other man has already got his wand at the ready.

 

”You want to Side-Along with your dad—?”

 

Harry snaps his attention back to Remus and quickly shakes his head, moving over to him. The man immediately curls his arm around him and pulls him into his side and Harry awkwardly angles his own arm around the man’s back and gropes the back of his robes for a good grip, steeling himself for the pull of Apparation.

 

Sirius Disapparates ahead of them with a _crack_ and giving Harry’s shoulder a final reassuring squeeze, Remus asks if he’s ready and Harry nods.

 

In the next moment, everything goes pitch black around him and he’s gripped by the sudden, nauseating sensation of being hauled through space, while simultaneously being pressed really hard from all sides; his lungs scream for oxygen but no matter how hard Harry tries to gasp for breath, he can’t — it’s like someone has clasped heavy iron bands around his torso and they’re steadily tightening around his chest, squeezing his ribcage together, and invisible fingers push his eyeballs and eardrums into his skull —

 

Suddenly, solid ground slams back beneath his feet and a rush of cool evening air streams into his mouth and nostrils, all the way down to his lungs and he coughs desperately, feelings his knees buckle slightly under him as he staggers sideways. He’s vaguely aware of Remus’s arm still curled around him, keeping him steady.

 

”You all right, cub?” the man murmurs.

 

Harry blinks tears from his eyes and looks around, feeling desorientated…

 

”Harry?”

 

”Y-Yeah”, Harry gasps.

 

He recognises the wrought iron gates of the school grounds, flanked as always by the two winged boars perched proudly on their pillars.

 

”Come on…” Remus murmurs, giving his shoulder another gentle squeeze.

 

Harry allows himself to be steered towards the gates, where he is surprised to see Professor Snape waiting for them, looking as grim as ever. Harry glowers at him — _he’s come to gloat, obviously!_ — The Potions Master frowns back, but for some reason his eyes lack their usual venom, Harry is nonplussed to notice.

 

 _Whatever,_ he thinks. _He’s probably just wary around Sirius. If it was just the two of us, he’d probably be taunting me as usual._

 

”Hi, Severus…” Remus murmurs.

 

The other man’s black eyes flit away from Harry’s face to fix on Remus’s instead and he gives him a curt nod.

 

”I’ve alerted Poppy”, he says in his silkiest voice. ”And Professor Dumbledore is waiting with the High Inquisitor in the Headmaster’s Office, but he assures you that there is no hurry…”

 

”Thank you…”

 

Harry frowns. _The High Inquisitor… So Umbridge is here as well,_ he thinks. _But at least she’s not the Headmistress. At least Dumbledore is still here._

 

Professor Snape gives another curt nod and then swirls around and starts stalking back up towards the castle. Harry can’t help but roll his eyes at the sight of the man’s black robes billowing dramatically behind him.

 

They walk in tense silence, but Remus’s arm never leaves Harry’s shoulders and although it felt slightly awkward at first, Harry is starting to take some comfort from the contact…

 

Snape leads the way to the Hospital Wing, where Madam Pomfrey is waiting for them. Harry is struck by a strong sense of relief, almost like coming home, and he supposes that’s not so weird considering how much of his life he’s spent inside these walls… Although it is slightly weird to be walking in through the doors on his own steam, usually he just wakes up in one of the beds.

 

”Mister Potter”, Madam Pomfrey says, managing to sound both scolding and soothing at the same time. ”Sit over here, please. Come on, come on. Hop on…”

 

She pats the mattress of the nearest bed and Harry awkwardly totters over and perches on the edge of it. His shoulder blades and arm feel very cold suddenly without Remus’s arm draped over them, but he ignores that and obediently shuffles back towards the headboard of the bed when the Matron instructs him to.

 

Remus and Sirius sidle up to the side of the bed and Harry feels their worried eyes on him as Pomfrey begins to wave her wand over his body, casting her diagnostic spells. With every complicated wand movement, the silence in the Hospital Wing seems to get tenser and heavier. Harry fidgets nervously, shooting the older men a look.

 

Sirius and Snape are both watching Pomfrey with avid eyes, but Remus’s eyes are pinned on Harry’s face and there is an intense look in them, but Harry can’t quite pin-point what it is.

 

Finally Madam Pomfrey straightens up with a definitive sigh and pockets her wand again.

 

”Fit as a fiddle”, she states.

 

”Really?” Sirius says, looking shocked and relieved in equal measures and then his face splits open in a brilliant smile and he reaches out and shoves Harry playfully. ”See! What’d I tell you!”

 

Harry chuckles nervously, but when he looks over at Remus again his heart sinks. The intense look is still present in the other man’s eyes and there’s not a trace of a smile on his face. Sirius seems to have noticed the same thing, because he slams his arm around the man’s shoulders in a rather aggressive one-armed hug.

 

”Aww, Moony, come on — He’s _fine_! Isn’t he, Poppy?”

 

”As far as I can tell”, Madam Pomfrey confirms with a decisive nod.

 

”I will give you a moment”, Snape says quietly. ”I’ll meet you in the Headmaster’s Office — The password is Fizzing Whizzbees…”

 

”Thank you, Severus…” Remus mumbles, without tearing his eyes away from Harry. ”We’ll be there shortly.”

 

As soon as the Potions Master has disappeared through the doors, Remus’s eyes dart back to bore into Harry’s.

 

”How do you feel?” he asks and never before has that particular question felt more loaded to Harry who shrugs awkwardly.

 

”He’s _fine_ ”, Sirius says again. ”Moony—”

 

”Well, come on then, Harry”, Remus says loudly, cutting the other man off. ”We’ll walk you to the Common Room before we go to the meeting…”

 

Harry swallows thickly, but nods and slides off the bed again. Out of the corner of his eye, he catches Remus grab Sirius’s hand and as he begins to walk across the room, the two men hang back and let him lead the way.

 

When he reaches the doors, he stops and turns round to give them both a questioning look but Remus just smiles tightly and gestures for him to keep walking.

 

”Moony, what…?” Harry hears Sirius murmur behind him as he turns to start walking again, but he immediately trails off.

 

They reach the Grand Staircase at the end of the Hospital Tower’s fourth-floor corridor and Harry stops to look at the two men again.

 

”We’ll just walk you to your Common Room, Harry”, Remus says and brushes his hand against Harry’s shoulder briefly.

 

”You really don’t have to, I’m fine—”

 

”That’s okay. We’ll just walk you to the door, how’s that?”

 

”Oh, okay, yeah … Sure … ” Harry mumbles.

 

He starts off towards the stairs straight ahead that he knows will lead him to the fourth floor of the main castle, which is the quickest route to Gryffindor tower. But almost immediately, he notices that the two men behind him haven’t followed and pulls to a stop to give them another questioning look.

 

Remus is watching him closely again, while Sirius’s eyes dart between the both of them uncertainly.

 

”Where are you going, Harry?” Remus asks lightly, but the intense look in his eye doesn’t dim.

 

”I … Ehm …”

 

”We’re taking you straight to the Common Room. No detours.”

 

”Yeah”, Harry says, frowning in confusion.

 

”Harry?” Remus says slowly, his eyes growing more and more alarmed. ”Where is your Common Room?”

 

”What?”

 

”What House are you in?”

 

”What _House_ —?”

 

”Just answer the question”, Remus snaps.

 

”Moony—” Sirius murmurs.

 

”Not now, Sirius — Harry. _What House are you in?_ ”

 

”I’m in … ”

 

And that’s when it strikes Harry… Why would Snape have got out of bed in the middle of the night to see him to the Hospital Wing, if it wasn’t to gloat in his misery — Which Harry had been shocked to discover that the man didn’t do — _Unless … Unless he_ had _to,_ Harry thinks with a start. _He had to because he’s my_ Head of House _!_

 

”Slytherin”, he says, scanning both men’s faces for any sign of surprise or alarm, and when he finds nothing but relief, he breathes out again and repeats, ”I’m in Slytherin …”

 

 _I’m in Slytherin?_ a voice in the back of his mind exclaims incredulously.

 

 _Apparently_ , he tells it, before ordering it to shush — He’ll have that freak out later, when Remus and Sirius aren’t around to see it.

 

”Yeah, so …?” Remus says slowly, but there’s a gentler tone to his voice now.

 

”So … So we should go this way …” Harry mumbles, pointing towards a staircase heading downwards. ”Towards the dungeons.”

 

”Man, he’s really out of it”, Sirius comments.

 

”Yeah”, Remus says softly. ”I’ll ask Severus to keep a close eye on him tomorrow. Do you think he could have been exposed to something in your Department, something that Poppy wouldn’t be able to detect—?”

 

”No”, Sirius says firmly and puts a reassuring arm around the other man’s shoulders. ”I’m sure he’s _fine_.”

 

Harry belatedly remembers that these versions of Sirius and Remus are apparently a couple and accidentally catches Sirius leaning in for a kiss, before hurriedly whipping his head around.

 

 _I did_ not _need to see that,_ he thinks frantically.

 

The make the walk to the dungeons in silence, but it’s a lot less tense than before and when they reach the hidden entrance to the Common Room, Remus and Sirius both smile at Harry and there is nothing but warmth and affection in their faces now, even in Remus’s face even though there’s still a hint of wariness in his eyes.

 

”Well, this is me, I guess…” Harry mumbles, gesturing awkwardly at the patch of stone wall next to him.

 

Remus immediately steps into his space and envelops him in a massive hug. Harry blinks in surprise, but quickly recovers and hugs him back. He’s embarassed to feel the man nuzzle the crook of his neck and then inhale deeply, as if smelling him and blushes. When Remus steps back again, Harry glances up at Sirius quickly, wondering if he’d noticed and if he was angry about it — But his godfather simply grins at him and moves in to steal a hug for himself. Harry huffs out a half-chuckle and eagerly hugs him back.

 

”It was great to see you, runt”, the man rumbles, giving the top of his head a quick peck. ”But give the rule-breaking a rest for a while now, all right?”

 

”Yeah, all right”, Harry says and steps back again.

 

”No, really”, Remus adds in a sterner voice.

 

”Yeah”, Harry says, nodding quickly. ”I promise!”

 

”All right then…” the other man mutters, mirroring his nod. ”Well, we need to get going. The others are waiting for us… We’ll owl you in the morning, okay, Harry?”

 

Harry nods again and waves at the two men as they make their way back towards the spiral staircase. It’s not until after they’ve gone that it strikes him, he has no idea of what the password to the Slytherin Common Room is.

 

The first — and last — time he’d entered the Slytherin Common Room, back in Second Year when he and Ron had taken Polyjuice Potion to look like Crabbe and Goyle so that they could spy on Malfoy and find out if he was the one who’d opened the Chamber of Secrets, the password had been _pure-blood_ , but that was years ago… He eyes the wall speculatively.

 

”Pure-blood”, he tells it, but is hardly surprised when nothing happens. ”Salazar… Potions… Parsletongue… Er… Mudblood?”

 

Still, nothing happens.

 

Harry sighs in frustration.

 

”Snakes! Green! _Emerald_ green! Silver! Blonde! … Ferret! … Sucks at Quidditch! … Snooty bigoted pompous Death-Eater arse! _Toff_! TOFFEE! CHOCOLATE FROG! _CHOCO-LOCO_ — Wha—?”

 

Harry stumbles back and goggles at the wall in astonishment as the stones start to rearrange themselves to reveal a doorway.

 

” _Choco-loco?_ ” He repeats. ”Really?”

 

Harry feels like a deer caught in headlights as he steps into the Common Room and every Slytherin in the school turn their heads to stare at him — _Or rather like a lamb in the wolves’s den,_ he thinks anxiously — But in the next moment, most of the people go back to whatever they were doing and ignore him. Harry blinks in surprise.

 

 _Guess I really_ am _in their House,_ he thinks.

 

”Harry!”

 

Whipping his head to the side, Harry is shocked to see Seamus waving at him from a corner of the room, sitting rather comfortably next to Blaise Zabini on a love seat and talking to Pansy Parkinsson and —

 

 _Oh Hell,_ Harry thinks heavily as a very familiar blonde head suddenly bobs into view. He watches in trepidation as the tall and almost feline form of one Draco Malfoy comes sauntering towards him… Gripped by a sudden panic, Harry stumbles back and begins to walk in a random direction — _Just away,_ he thinks frantically. _Just walk away, and_ stay _away from him, and there won’t be any problems!_

 

”Harry? Harry!”

 

 _No_ , Harry thinks and picks up his pace with determination. _I will_ not _let him goad me —_

 

” _Harry, wait_ …!”

 

Ducking into the nearest doorway, Harry marches inside what looks like a replica of his dorm in Gryffindor Tower, except with a different — _Slytherin_ , he realises with a pang — colour scheme.

 

The door swings open again behind him almost immediately and Harry takes a deep breath and turns around to face the blonde head on.

 

”Harry, what are you doing? This is the First Years’ dorm—”

 

”Malfoy, I — What?” Harry frowns and looks around again.

 

”Are you all right?”

 

Harry shoots the other boy a sidelong look. He seems genuinely… _Concerned?_ Harry thinks, but the the very idea is just _too_ absurd, so he quickly dismisses it.

 

”Look, I’m really sorry — Father petrified me, there was nothing I could do!” Malfoy says in a rush. ” _Please_ , don’t be mad at me!”

 

The blonde then makes a sudden movement towards Harry, but immediately stops dead in his tracks again when Harry staggers back. He looks stricken, like Harry has just punched him in the face.

 

”Harry?” He says in a small voice.

 

”Yeah…” Harry says, frowning warily at the other boy.

 

”I — I’ve been worried sick about you — I — You’re not mad at me, are you? Please, believe me, there was nothing I could do! Father petrified me and Side-Alonged me to the Manor, and he wouldn’t let me go back for you! I sent Bertram with a note to your dads as soon as I could, but —”

 

Harry stares in horror as the unmistakable sheen of tears well up in the other boy’s eyes.

 

”Harry, please say something!”

 

”Er…”

 

”Are you?”

 

”What?” Harry says nonplussed.

 

” _Are you mad at me?_ ” the blonde more or less wails and Harry watches bemused as a couple of fat tears tumble down the other boy’s impossibly pale and disconsertingly flawless cheeks.

 

”Ehm… N-No, I’m… Er… No…” he stammers. ”No, I’m not mad, we’re… We’re okay—”

 

The other boy lets out a small sob and lurches forward again.

 

This time, Harry is too slow to react and before he can move back, the blonde has got his face in vicelike grip and smashes their lips together.

 

Harry stands petrified, neither breaking nor returning the kiss. Draco doesn’t seem to mind, though. He wrenches his lips away again and wraps his arms around Harry in a bone-crushing hug, sniffing and snuffling into the crook of Harry’s neck and Harry pulls a face as he feels his skin smeared with tears and snot.

 

After a moment’s shock, he returns the embrace tensely — _Man, he is_ tall, he thinks faintly — And gives the other boy’s arm an awkward pat, before pulling away from him.

 

”Sorry for blubbering …” Draco mumbles with a wet chuckle, wiping the tears from his face with trembling fingers. ”I’m exhausted … What about you?”

 

”Er …”

 

”What do you say we go to _our_ dorm and—?”

 

”I’m not that tired, actually”, Harry says quickly, side-stepping another embrace and moving around the other boy smoothly to get to the door. ”But, er, you… You go… And I’ll, ehm, see you later…”

 

And then, before the other boy can say anything else or attempt to accost his person, Harry slips out the door.

 

Returning to the Common Room, Harry spots Seamus and the other Fifth Years still in their corner andmakes a beeline for them. He gives Zabini a wide berth and, giving the two girls on the opposite sofa a wary look, he perches on the arm rest next to Seamus tensely.

 

”You all right ’Arry?” Seamus asks, giving him weird look.

 

”Where’s Draco?” Zabini says.

 

”Don’t tell me you had a fight already”, Parkinson says in a long-suffering voice.

 

”Five minutes”, comments the other girl, whose name Harry forgets now. ”That’s a record, isn’t it?”

 

”No, no…” Parkinson says, studying her nails idly. ”Remember back at Half Term when they’d _just_ made up…?”

 

”And then Harry made that comment about — Yep, I remember”, the other girl nods, squinting seriously at the ceiling.

 

”That was less than one minute, if I’m not mistaken?”

 

”No, you’re right.”

 

Both girls exchange a sly look and smile coolly, before darting their eyes over to Harry and he shifts uncomfortably.

 

”Oh, come on, we’re only teasing…” the girl who isn’t Parkinson says, her smile softening slightly.

 

”Right…” Harry mutters.

 

Well, at least it isn’t all bad news, he figures. He and Malfoy might be in the same group of friends, but at least they aren’t _that_ friendly. Judging by the girls’ comments, Harry suspects that, even in this weird world where he’d inexplicably agreed to be Sorted into Slytherin, he still can’t stand the snooty blonde, which is probably why they’re constantly fighting.

 

He glances over at Seamus, wondering how the Irish boy had ended up here and why either of them are friends with any of the other Slytherins if they have each other.

 

Although Seamus seems awfully comfortable next to Zabini, Harry notices. The two boys are sitting very close, with arms and legs touching unnecessarily, and are happily chattering away. Harry frowns. Could it be that Seamus is better friends with Zabini than him?

 

He supposes he and Seamus aren’t exactly best friends, even in the real world… Ron is definitely Harry’s best friend and Seamus is best friends with Dean, he’s fairly sure. But seeing as neither Ron or Dean are here, Harry would have assumed that they would be each other’s next best thing, but… Maybe not…

 

 _So who is my best friend in this place then?_ Harry thinks with building dread. He looks around. It’s definitely not the girls, he thinks. He can’t really see himself being best friends with a girl — Even though he is, technically — Hermione is his best friend, too. He loves Hermione, and sometimes he almost thinks she and him are closer than he and Ron, but that’s because Hermione is the exception to many rules — How teenage girls are, being one of them.

 

 _Well_ , Harry concedes. Ginny is all right and also unlike most girls, and then there’s Luna… But Luna is different. She’s not like other girls _or boys_ , she’s just strange. And he can’t see himself being best friends with someone like her, or even someone like Ginny no matter how cool she is.

 

And he definitely can’t see himself being best friends with someone girlier — _like Lavender, or these two,_ he thinks, glancing at Parkinson and her friend again.

 

”Oh, just go talk to him”, Parkinson snaps and rolls her eyes in a rather aggressive manner.

 

”Excuse me?” Harry frowns.

 

”Go talk to Draco”, she says in an unnecessarily loud and slow voice and Harry feels his cheeks flush, keenly aware that the whole Common Room can hear her. ”Spare the rest of us from any more cold shouldering, it’s very tedious—”

 

”Fine, I’ll go”, Harry snaps.

 

He has no intention of actually approaching Malfoy, but he doesn’t mind getting out of the Common Room, especially if he’s going to be pestered like this…

 

He returns to the doorway which lead to the First Years’ dormitory and discovers a small passage which leads to a staircase going further down into the shadowed depths of the dungeons. With trepidation, Harry begins to descend the stairs. Thinking that, if the First Year dormitory is located at the top, the logical assumption would be that the Fifth Year dormitory should be five floors down, he stops on the fifth flight of stairs and opens the door as carefully and quietly as possible.

 

The dormitory is almost completely dark, save for the dim green glow from the lanterns lining the walls. He can make out the shape of a window in the far wall, but there are no stars on the other side. Which makes sense if this is actually below ground, he thinks feeling extremely uneasy at the idea.

 

There are seven four poster beds standing in a circle around the room with a stove, similar to the one they have in the Gryffindor dorm, in the middle. Only one of the four poster beds have its hangings drawn, so Harry assumes that must Malfoy’s and breathes a small sigh of relief over the fact that the blonde has already gone to bed.

 

Harry tip-toes around the dorm, doing a bit of quiet detective work to try and work out which bed is his, dismayed when he realises it’s the one next to Malfoy’s and climbs into it as carefully as possible and then pulls the hangings shut tricklingly slowly so as not to make a sound. Once he’s finally got the hangings drawn around the bed, he whispers a Silencing Charm and collapses back against the pillows with a groan.

 

 _What in the world is going on,_ he thinks desperately.

 

When he’d stood in that living room, looking at all of those photographs and sensing all that _love_ , and then hugging Sirius, even Remus, and starting to feel — for the first time in his life — what it must be like to be part of a _family_ , Harry hadn’t wanted to lose it, not for anything. But _now_ …

 

He’s in Slytherin… He’s expected to spend all of his time _with_ the Slytherins… And sleep hundreds of metres under ground… In the bed next to Draco bloody Malfoy, who is meant to be one of his friends, even though they clearly can’t go two minutes without fighting…

 

_Is it really worth it?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> xx


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